


Life Unfolds in Pools of Gold

by craving_for_ziam



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Internal Monologue, Past, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-04 00:49:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13353006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craving_for_ziam/pseuds/craving_for_ziam
Summary: The Hound often thinks about the Stark girls, the last bright embers in the shithole that is King's Landing.





	Life Unfolds in Pools of Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Title and subsequent song lyrics at the beginning are taken from a Fleet Foxes' song, [Third of May / Ōdaigahara](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GqgNebPm50). I'd highly recommend you check it out, because it is a masterpiece.
> 
> I do not own any of the characters depicted in this work.

_  
Life unfolds in pools of gold_

_I am only owed this shape if I make a line to hold_

_To be held within one's self is deathlike, oh I know_

 

 

*****

He finds himself following the older Stark daughter, watching for any trouble. He cannot explain why, but he wants to snatch her and take her away from the dreadful life that no doubt awaits her amongst the lions. He wants to care for her, to keep her safe. Instead, he stands there, unmoving, and watches as she’s treated like shit by Joffrey, the little cunt, and endures it all for nothing. Nothing but a dumb title. He wants to crush her dreams of a life in a big castle with a courteous prince, surrounded by honourable knights. There is no such thing. The sooner she realises that, the better. Foolish, stubborn little bird. He wants to be there when she finally breaks out of the confines of her golden cage. He wants to see how strong she will become.

*****

_Fuck the King._ The words still ring through his head, while the terrifying image of the wildfire is forever burned into his brain. He is taken aback when it dawns on him that it's regret and sorrow he's feeling, after being denied by his little bird. He knows he likely won’t ever see her again.

He is days away from King's Landing, and he doesn't know where to go. He has never been free. The feeling of freedom is strangely burdening. He has always followed a master.

*****

When the Brotherhood Without Banners capture him, he is surprised to find Arya Stark alive, thinking her dead all this time. He has never spent much time around her, but he can see she is bold and wild, like a little wolf.

After he defeats Beric, although unsettled by the fire, he sees her out of the corner of his eye, struggling to break free from the hold of a young man. The murderous glint in her eyes tells him she wants to make sure he doesn't walk free. He almost laughs; the little girl thinks she has a chance against him. Far larger men have tried to waste him and ended up dust in the wind. She's got balls, he'll give her that.

*****

He seizes her trying to run away from the Brotherhood without Banners. He decides to complete their task of returning Arya Stark to her family.

Weeks later, as he guides Stranger further North, towards the girl's mother, he keeps telling himself it's the ransom he is after. He is not entirely convinced he believes that.

The girl proves to be a pain in his arse, though he does not regret taking her on this journey. Now that her mother and brother are dead, their travels have gotten even longer. They're only halfway to the Eyrie, and they're tired from steadfast riding. Her aunt better pay him good coin.

All troubles aside, he catches himself take pleasure in their verbal jousting and the little fights with the wolf girl. She has got a quick wit. It's been a long time since anyone talked to him like a man, instead of the dog he always felt like. He is surprised to find the task of being her guardian and teacher not at all tedious, but instead fulfilling. If he couldn't protect Sansa, he'll do his best to keep Arya safe.

*****

He does not care if she wants him dead, he tells himself. A lot of people want him dead. He deserves it.

*****

He teaches the girl how to kill a man, to defend herself, and watches as cold, ruthless parts of the wolf beneath are revealed, piece by piece. He regrets spoiling the innocence of a child, albeit for her own good. Then he remembers how she killed that Frey soldier, and later the Lannister cunt. She was corrupted the second her father's head rolled from his shoulders, he realises.

*****

He cannot explain what pulled him towards the sisters. Maybe it was their kindness, their willingness to treat a monster such as himself as a human being. They were the only ones in the whole of Westeros who have ever tried to look past the burns, the horrible burns that marked his face and brought on a life of solitude. The Stark girls made him want to be a better man.

In the last few years, he's found himself wishing he was younger, wishing his loyalty lied with the Starks. He always thought Ned a good and honest man, but it was the goodness that cost the Lord his life. And as it would seem, his own life too.

As blackness gets a hold of him, he goes with the little wolf's name on his lips.

"Arya ..."

*****

A loud noise breaks through the fog that's enveloped him for what seems like days, and the Hound opens his eyes to a shadow of a man leaning over him, concealing the bright rays of sunlight which is illuminating the surroundings.

"Awake, at last. Thought you'd never open your eyes."

He looks up in confusion; he should be dead.

*****

His leg is mostly healed up, and he’s helping Ray and his followers build a sept. He is one of them now. He has come to respect the man in the months he’s been with the group. He thinks back to when the septon found him. He should have been dead by then, his flesh already rotting away. When he reopened his eyes, he couldn’t make sense of the place, he recalls. He did not believe he was still alive, at first. He’s done countless wrong deeds in his life, and so little good. Why should he get to live when innocent babes are being killed all around the Seven Kingdoms? The Hound should have become just a bitter memory in the minds of the living. Maybe he is. Maybe Sandor Clegane is all there is now - a man trying to right some of the many wrongs from the past.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated. If you've come this far (I know it's not much but I'm trying to push myself back into writing, 1000 words at a time lol), I hereby thank you for reading. Have a nice day!


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